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AHHHHH Routers!
donhonk
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Well my dad has consulted me about getting a new router, and to be honest, I don't know much about it. Its also kind of annoying to dig through, considering that routers never have normal names. So Im left with making a list of model numbers.
Instead of doing that, I come to you PA... Humble and eager to listen!
So here is the requirements.
So there you go, any personal experience with a router like this? Thank you.
Instead of doing that, I come to you PA... Humble and eager to listen!
So here is the requirements.
I have been doing some research on a new router and the more I look the more I am confused. Wonder if you could do some research to in to a new router.
What I would like the router to do:
Provide fast N performance (my laptop has an N capable wireless adapter - looking for 300Mbps)
good G performance
Gives great range so the entire house has fairly good connections (like our bed room and Matt's room)
What would be nice:
USB connection for a disk drive. Now some routers require a powered external drive and some can provide the power the external drive via the USB. Prefer the ones that provides the power but if the price and other features are great then I would take one that requires external power for the drives.
Lower Price. The priciest one I have seen is the Cisco/Linksys E4300 at $179.99. I don't REALLY want to go this high but will if it fits the bill.
Other thoughts, if we can get a great router for a lot cheaper price then maybe the USB would not be worth it and since we would need to get a larger external drive anyhow we may be able to find a lower priced one that does the NAS connection directly from the drive enclosure.
What I would like the router to do:
Provide fast N performance (my laptop has an N capable wireless adapter - looking for 300Mbps)
good G performance
Gives great range so the entire house has fairly good connections (like our bed room and Matt's room)
What would be nice:
USB connection for a disk drive. Now some routers require a powered external drive and some can provide the power the external drive via the USB. Prefer the ones that provides the power but if the price and other features are great then I would take one that requires external power for the drives.
Lower Price. The priciest one I have seen is the Cisco/Linksys E4300 at $179.99. I don't REALLY want to go this high but will if it fits the bill.
Other thoughts, if we can get a great router for a lot cheaper price then maybe the USB would not be worth it and since we would need to get a larger external drive anyhow we may be able to find a lower priced one that does the NAS connection directly from the drive enclosure.
So there you go, any personal experience with a router like this? Thank you.
donhonk on
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You could probably get something with the sort of umph you want for much more money-wise.
I'd suggest the WNDR3400 from Netgear. Simultaneous, dual-band N router, with 300 mbps limit on each frequency. Range is freakishly good. Has pretty much everything you want. The only thing I'm not sure of is if it will provide power via the USB port or not. And you can find it for around $80 at most places.
Or you could go up to the WNDR3700 for $130, but as far as I can tell, the only thing it offers over the 3400 is gigabit ethernet ports.
Linksys E3000: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833124388
Linksys E2100L: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833124387
Netgear WNR 3500L: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833122334
All have N and a USB port for a media drive.
EDIT: Ooh yeah, the WNDR3400 is nice. I don't see why power over the USB port is a necessity - if you have a big media drive you will probably have to plug it in regardless.
Switch: 6200-8149-0919 / Wii U: maximumzero / 3DS: 0860-3352-3335 / eBay Shop
I'm looking at this model:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16825122014
Will this work for me? Any thoughts? I know it is a combined unit, but it seems to offer everything I want, and according to wikipedia (hah) they should be backwards compatible.
I'm also wondering if this is a little expensive... but Comcast rents modems for $10 a month, so.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16825122009&cm_re=motorola_docsis_3.0-_-25-122-009-_-Product
That's what I bought, and I can confirm it works fine with Comcast.
That really depends on the router compared to the SURFboard DOCSIS 3.0 Gateway.
That Gateway is better than the routers that most people have for several reasons:
I bought just the DOCSIS 3 modem like yourself and my old router quickly became the week point in my network. On top of that part of my home network is running in 10/100 because my Gigabit switch isn't big enough for everything I have. And believe me I do make use of the speeds streaming/downloading HD video files with my PS3.
I feel that Gateway is worth the extra $50 over the standard modem just for the conviences and less boxes.
Feel free to use this thread to discuss routers further!
I am thinking of switching up my home network. Currently (i think, at work) I am using a D-link like this one. It does "ok", but I been not too thrilled with it's wireless connection. So i been browsing around and came across these 2 types:
Cisco Valet
Linksys *well not so much now after the over heating comment*
The thing that really perked my interest with both Cisco systems is that you can use a wireless USB adaptor. I have a non-wireless PC upstairs I would love to easily give a connection to without installing a new network card. The pc is old, and belongs to my 2 young boys. They been begging me for the internets for ages.
Here is what I currently use my network for and some issues I get (my house of Nerd) :
-2 Xbox 360s (I dont use Xbox Live)
-1 Laptop (wireless, it can be slow but it is also a ~4yr old laptop)
-2 currently wired PC's (would like to add my kids PC, bringing that to 3)
-1 HTC smartphone
-2 DSi's
So, I guess my question is would it be a worth while to upgrade my current router? Could it also fix my Netflix issues and general "slowage" wireless issues? I'm soooo out of the loop here. So please forgive me!
With Netflix, have you always seen disconnects or did it use to work? If this is a new problem you could check for new sources of interference (see the other recent router related thread)
What pushed me into upgrading was that I started getting unrecoverable timeout errors while streaming from my NAS while before I would get 1 or 2 recoverable "stutters" per movie. The new router so far has been void of the unrecoverable errors but suffers the same old stutter. Really not sure if the new hardware fixed the problem or the upgrade/configuration of the firmware. Might have been a waste but at least I got a gigabit ethernet connection out of it.
I read your link, and I'll be honest I feel a touched overwhelmed. I'll have to play around with settings when I get home. Check what signal the Wii uses, what my router is set at, etc. I know my laptop will be crumby due to it's age.
Was hopeful with a new router, everything would speed up a touch so I can consider a total wireless house. I want to be free of network cables, and watch my Netflix in peace!
Confirmin' 'dis.
We have a bunch of Airport's around my house (due to my brothers) and they have been nothing but a hassle. For no reason they will all decide to stop working at once, and only reset if unplugged/plugged in.
They have no web interface and have to be configured with the Airport software, which is itself a pain to deal with. They're overpriced junk IMO.
This is a pretty counter-productive goal.
Your wireless bandwidth is shared with everything using it, and is interfered with by a bunch of consumer devices and lost to spectrum crowding from people in your area using it.
If you want reliable, hassle-free netstreaming then you really should go to the trouble of running concealed Cat 6 ethernet cables.
The only thing I'm seeing that's throwing up obvious red flags is the fact that nobody seems to want to go on record with a published wireless data transfer rate for it.
EDIT Draft N 2.
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-reviews/30775-the-one-to-beat-linksys-wrt400n-simultaneous-dual-band-wireless-n-router-reviewed
The E1000, E2000 and E3000 form factors. When I was researching a new router, the E3000 apparently had fantastic performance, but overheated like a motherfucker.
And while I'm thinking about it, what the hell happened to Linksys (beyond the obvious "Cisco happened")? My WRT54G has performed like a champ for nearly a decade now. Its performance, and the fact that I've had bad experiences with other companies, is why I'd consider a Linksys upgrade in the first place, but all I seem to hear anymore is that new Linksys-branded products have taken a nosedive in quality compared to their older products.
We can see what machines are connected, for example (and nobody is connected who shouldn't be), but we can't see what each machine is doing - and, more importantly, just how much each machine is pulling down and sending up. Does any router provide this service? If there is, it must also provide a strong wireless N signal (we're all running on G atm, but that can change). As of right now, the signal is strong and reaches all ends of the apartment, but we're on a ground floor apartment and moving to a two-storey next month.
Thanks for your suggestions, if anybody has any.
Nothing's forgotten, nothing is ever forgotten
Living in a split-level with 7 other guys (that I know) next year. Luckily, the cable modem is in my bedroom.
Looking for recommendations on wireless routers. Not looking for anything too hardcore; I was taking a good look at the Netgear WNR 1000 or WNR 2000.
The setup is this: Cable modem -> whatever router I choose, 1 line to the downstairs (4 people) to do whatever they want with. 3 other lines go to other bedrooms upstairs.
I already have a trendnet 8-port gigabit switch to deal with a lot of our device needs, so looking for advice on a good router. Lots of PC gaming and ˆsomeˆ(wired) console gaming is going to be the main use. I'm not naive and going to say that torrents won't happen with 8 college-age dudes, but I will have the ability to throttle if it becomes an issue.
I never actually heard much in the way of issues with the Cisco software, really. More hardware issues like the ones described by Monkey above.